Searching for Wishes
by Marlode
Summary: The war is over, but with many deaths for Seretei. One of them was Renji, but what about reincarnation, and what has Renji gotten himself into? And will the proper path for love be taken? GuyGuy or GuyGirl.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, this is my first fan fiction! Please rate and review, and please be nice about it (: **

**I do not own Bleach; even if pigs fly, I still will not own Bleach. **

**WHILE reading this story, I would recommend listening to**

**Top Emotional Osts Of All Times: Yuukimaru's Theme**

**Which is on YouTube. **

**I do not own the song either. **

**~Marlode~**

**Searching for Wishes**

**Chapter One**

The place reeked of blood. The sky was streaked with pink, red, yellow and purple, just like the bruises and gashes that adorned the figures sprawled out over the field. The cries and moans of the injured rang out to the ears of the dead, calling for them to come back, and to help them, to not leave them alone.

"Renji!" cried out a feminine voice.

"Renji!" panted out a bald Shinigami.

"RENJI!" belted out an orange haired Soul Reaper.

And their voices, along with others, cried out, "Renji, Renji, Renji…"

It might have seemed selfish that they cried out for Renji, granted that there were others wounded, others in need of help, and calling out for someone; for anyone. But Renji was their close friend, and they wanted to keep him that way. They had to find him, just as some still searched for those that they did not want to lose.

Ichigo, Rukia, Chad, Ishida, Orihime, and Byakuya had already found each other. There were others that they worried for of course, but deep in their hearts, they held a fear that they would not find those they searched for. But Renji, he always came out alright. He always came through, so even though they were worried, they held a belief that he would come out in the end, he had to. They had been looking for him, running into one another and discovering each other on the way, forming a tight, exhausted group, of bloodied and desperate warriors.

Renji was a safe bet; he could never seem to die, and they were all extremely grateful for that; just as they were overjoyed that they had formed a group, something to hold them together. Even Byakuya, whose heart was not cold, just hurt to the point where he raised one too many psychological walls around himself.

So as they found more of their friends, they continued to search for Renji. Hitsugaya called out for the red haired man, and Matsumoto yelled out for Renji through her tears, but it was not just her; they were all crying. Even the men, who felt no shame for letting their tears slip. Not now, when they had so much to cry for, when they might never see the ones that they wanted to ever again. Not now, when they could cry and not be ridiculed, or ridicule themselves for it.

The setting sun set to night, and the moon rose. The Shinigami continued to trudge on; their feet browned from the caked on blood and dirt, and their hands fumbling to drag their swords behind them. Then suddenly, Ichigo stopped in his tracks.

"Ichigo?" questioned Rukia.

Then she stopped as well, and her eyes grew wide, and her breath caught. The others halted, forming a ragged line, creating elongated shadows on the moonlit ground. They were facing a body with claw marks, and swords sticking out of its flesh. The eyes were open, looking up to the sky, and the hand held a broken sword with its shattered fragments scattered around the being.

The body had long red hair, strewn out of its hair tie, and stunning black markings arching along the chest and abdomen, and slanting over the forehead.

"No, no, no." gasped Rukia. Her dirty face was suddenly overcome by a flood of tears, even more than before. "Not Renji, not the stupid, big softie- not him."

Ichigo's large brown eyes were glazed as he trudged over to the broken body, and fell to his knees beside his best friend, Abarai Renji. He gritted his teeth, and hissed out,

"Baka, Renji, where did you go?" Ichigo scrunched his eyes together, and his eyebrows crinkled forward.

He took Renji's face, and looked into his lifeless eyes, and cried out in a cracked voice,

"WHERE ARE YOU?" He yelled out desperately. "WHERE, ARE YOU?"

Then out of the group, Hisagi walked over to where Renji lay, and begin to pick up the pieces of Zabimaru. "What are you doing, Hisagi Shuuhei?" Byakuya forced out in a constricted voice.

Hisagi simply continued to pick up the shards Zabimaru had become, keeping his back to the high strung noble.

The Kuchiki took the back of Shuuhei's uniform and spun him around, seething the words, "I said, what are you doing HISAGI SHUUHEI?"

"I am gathering Renji's sword together so that he can hold it! Now you can help, or stop bothering me!" Hisagi spat out.

Normally, a lieutenant such as Hisagi would be punished for speaking in such a disrespectful manner to a captain, but when the world one knows is breaking, rules do not seem to matter much.

Byakuya took a step back from Shuuhei, saying "But he is dea-"

Rukia jolted up from the heap she had collapsed in, and stumbled over to Hisagi, and the kneeling Ichigo. "I will help you Hisagi, Renji needs to hold his sword."

"That's right," agreed Ichigo. "He never felt comfortable without it!"

So the group that had gathered, also involving other Shinigami who happened to stumble in, began to work in a frenzy gathering up the broken Zabimaru. The pieces were sharp, and the Soul Reapers soon found that their hands were bloody; and they found that they did not care.

It took about two hours to retrieve the many shards that had been scattered from where Renji lay, but the carefully pieced the broken sword together, and laid Renji's hand on the hilt, after removing the swords run through the red haired male's body.

"But his body will not stay there, and neither will Zabimaru." Byakuya supplied.

"But nii- sama…" Rukia sighed. "Ichigo?" she asked.

"Ne, Rukia?" rasped out Ichigo.

"How does that one saying go in the real world?"

"Could you narrow it dow- ah, that. It goes like, 'It's the thought that counts'," Answered the Substitute Shinigami.

Byakuya nodded his head, "I understand," He said.

The ragged group slowly reassembled into a circle around Renji, whose eyes had been smoothed shut by Rukia. The clouds began to clear, and soon the stars shone onto the battle field, where the war with Aizen had been ended and won, but with major losses for the Soul Society.

The Shinigami crowded together shoulder to shoulder, and their faces became wet with tears once again, as Abarai Renji's figure shone red, and along with Zabimaru, his body broke into a column of crimson light that turned and twisted into the wind. Then, as if on cue, all over the field, blue, red, and green soul lights took to the sky, flowing with the streams of air, and up into the cold night of the shining stars. And everywhere one would glance, arms were raised to the sky, and eyes were opened wide, reaching for and waving goodbye to the beautiful souls that lit the heavens.

The silence came with the take off of the souls, until Ichigo whispered,

"Well, he definitely won't miss the moon, and he'll finally get to reach the stars."

**I know that there is a lot of angst, but bear with me please. **

**Please review, I would love to hear from you. (Nice, please, nice!)**

**~Marlode~**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello! Please review, thank you! It would mean very much to me. :D**

**I do, do, do, do, not own Bleaaaacccchhhhh!**

**WHILE reading this story, I recommend listening to**

**Bleach - Life (full) with lyrics**** on YouTube.**

**I do not own the song.**

**~Marlode~**

**Searching for Wishes**

**Chapter Two**

_A Month After the War has Ended with Aizen_

**Ichigo's Point of View**

I could hear Rukia's snoring through the closet. 'Shut up woman, shut up!' I though repeatedly over in my head.

"SNORREE."

Oh. My. God. How can such a tiny girl sound like such a man?

"SNNNOOOOORRRREEEEE."

Finally, I snapped. "Rukia, SHUT UP!" I threw the alarm clock at the closet door, and it bounced right off the panel and hit Kon, who was lying in wait in front of the closet. I told him she was wearing pant pajamas, but he insists that she's wearing a skirt. Freak.

The closet door slams open, and Rukia's frazzled head pops out, yelling "What the hell is your problem Ichigo?"

"You're the one snoring like a congested man in my closet!" I shout back.

Then Kon leaps towards Rukia's bosom, yelping "Don't insult my nee- san!" To which Rukia fisted him in the face before he could reach her. That creeper never learns.

"Shut up Ichigo!" Rukia squealed. "You-"

DING DONG.

'Who would be ringing the doorbell this early in the morning?' I wondered.

"Well as I was saying, we are late for school! Why didn't you get up sooner?" snapped Rukia.

'Oh crap.' I leapt across the room and crouched down to brandish the screen of my alarm clock, and realized that the midget was right; we were going to be late.

DING DONG.

"Then get dressed you freaking midget!" I yelled.

"Why don't you get ready you stupid carrot?"

"I'm going to throw you out of my house!"

"I'm going to punch your face!"

DING DONG.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Rukia and I both screamed.

I charged out of my room with Rukia close behind me as we marched towards the door.

"Don't stand so close Mrs. Chappy, you're freaking me out!"

"Imagine how I feel next to you, stinky male!"

I smelled my arm. "I do not stink!"

DING DONG.

I finally reached the door as Rukia continued to throw some lame comeback at me. I wanted to rip the head off of whoever was ringing the doorbell this early in the day. I cracked my knuckles on the doorknob as I turned it; someone was going to pay for my bad morning!

My smile had turned into something menacing by the time a slammed open the door, gritting my teeth as I yelled "What?" in some poor person's face.

But then I froze, because the person in front of me could not be here; it was impossible.

"Baka, why are you just standing there?" Rukia said roughly as she pushed to stand beside me to see who the doorbell ringer was. Then she froze as well, with her jaw hanging open.

The person cleared their throat, and looked at me and Rukia, sheepishly asking, "Do you, by uh, any chance, know how to get to Karakura High? Do you guys go to school there?" He smiled and rubbed the back of his head, which was home to long red hair, and he blinked reddish, brown eyes and smiled that crooked smile that I had labeled to belong to one person only: Abarai Renji.

_Fifteen Minutes Later, After a Mad Dash to Get Ready_

I stared at the red haired guy out of the corner of my eye; he looked exactly like Renji. My chest began to hurt, and I put my hand to my heart as I spaced out. Then a hand touched my shoulder.

"Hey man, you okay?" Asked the red haired teenager. I nodded quickly.

"Oh, okay, good. Well, I'm really thankful that you guys are helping me out and all. I just wanted to introduce myself; my name is Abarai Renji. Well, that's what that Urahara guy told me. He set me up in the house next to both of yours!"

I gagged for a second; so it was Renji! But then, how did Hat and Clogs know about it? That sly asshole! I glanced at Rukia and noticed that she had the same shocked look on her face.

"He said I'm a relative of his and that I got amnesia or something'? So that's why I can't remember anything that's happened to me before now." Renji's tattoo- less face lit up,

"An' he said that you guys and I were really good friends, before, but that I went away for a while so that's why you guys might be acting weird."

"Yes!" Rukia piped up. "We remember you Renji!"

I could tell she was just itching to tackle him, or hug him or something like that. But she didn't want to freak him out so she didn't jump him for a hug.

Then I noticed, Renji still had his other tattoos, I could see them through his white school shirt. Maybe Urahara took off the ones on his head? That sure was weird, how did he do that? And, Renji's hair was down, which I bet Rukia would be swooning at this instant.

Whoa, Whoa! What am I thinking? Rukia wouldn't swoon for him! I quickly looked away from the tall, tan, striking man beside me. And the way his hair moved with the wind, and how his eyes shone in the sunlight—CRAP, yes she would swoon! But why should I worry about that anyway?

"Renji!" Rukia chirped as she took his arm. "This way, I'll show you to our class!"

"I'm here too, Baka," I growled. But I couldn't stay upset, I was overjoyed, ecstatic, and more at peace with myself knowing that Renji had returned.

So as we made our way up to the class I thought about Renji, and how when he lay dead at my feet, I wanted to tell him how great of a friend he was; and what an honor it was to fight alongside him, as cheesy as that sounds. When we finally made it to the classroom, our crazy teacher threw a piece of chalk at my head as Orihime, Chad, and Ishida gasped when they saw Renji standing with me and Rukia.

When lunch came around, Renji said he wanted to walk to somewhere off campus, and Rukia and I haltingly let him. I mean, we just got him back, what if the idiot got run over by an ice cream cart or something?

Rukia and I explained to everyone else that we didn't know how Renji was here with us, and Rukia told everyone that when she had called Urahara's to ask him about the Renji situation, the dialing went straight to voicemail, which was phrased: "Why hello, I am on vacation, so please leave a message! And I will try to get you as soon as possible! Bye!"

"What a time to leave," I grumbled. And since when did exiles take vacation?

Lunch was pretty quiet; everyone seemed to be contemplating the situation deeply. The others hadn't even had a chance to talk to Renji, even though they were never as close to him as Rukia and I are. Then again, Ishida had fought Szyael with Renji; I wasn't too sure about how close they got in that battle, probably not as close as Renji and I are, ahem not that I care... I had also heard that the battle was pretty bad, and that they didn't exactly win—but they covered for one another and kept each other alive.

I began walking to class a little early, leaving Rukia with Orihime, Ishida, and Chad. My mind was still a ball of confusion; how was Renji here? How was he alive and well, but without any of his past memories? Suddenly I was jolted out of my thoughts by a hand slapping my back, and upon hearing none other than Renji's voice.

"Ichigo! What's up with the spacing out man? How was lunch? Are people nice here? Our teacher seems mean, is she always like that? Hello?"

"Shut up!" I yelled, "Calm yourself!"

He sneered slightly, "You're the one who's freaking out man."

I kneaded my knuckles over my forehead, calming myself down. Whoo, calm, calm.

"Yeah lunch was fine, people are nice, and the teacher is wack." I glanced up at him, and asked "Where were you?"

"Eh, haha, I was doing, stuff. Ya' know, just business. Eating. Yeah. Making new friends."

I scowled at him, "You don't have 'business', and did you have money for food? And what friends did you make? Were they random people on the street?"

Renji rolled his eyes at me, "Okay, thanks for being concerned MOM."

My eye started twitching; 'Oh no he didn't.' "Well you know what Renji? Fu—!" But before I could finish my obscene sentence, he reached into his pant pocket and pulled out a keychain, with a small lion attached to it. I gaped like a fish, he had never seen Kon before, so is it possible that he remembered some of what had happened to him as a Shinigami?

"Here!" he said. "I got it because for some weird reason, it reminded me of you. And I got a different one for Rukia too, I get the feeling she likes bunnies."

I took the keychain from his outstretched hand. "Thanks, that's, uh pretty cool. I like it."

Renji flashed his huge smile at me, which brightened up the sunlit hallway by fifty more watts. The sun was shining in his hair, making it seem to glow, and his eyes looked auburn red and bronze. In short, I bet he would make any girl weak in the knees. "So!" I exclaimed, "Let's get to class!" and we headed off towards our destination side by side.

**Normal Point of View**

An ebony haired man stood outside, looking up from the courtyard and into the windows that Ichigo and Renji were passing by. His grey eyes kept a firm lock on the red headed figure walking beside Ichigo, staring intently at the tall male's features with his keen eyes. He took an involuntary step back, and closed his eyes as the wind tossed his shoulder length hair that carried the scent of Sakura blossoms. When he opened them, the man's eyes were full of uncharacteristic confusion and relief as he sighed out the name,

"Renji."

**So, there will be pairings. Any suggestions? Renjix? And can you guess who that person was at the end? ;) **

**No hate please! Review :D**

**~Marlode~**


	3. Chapter 3

**Welcome again! Once again, please be kind, and review as well please! :) Thank you for reading!**

**I do not own Bleach!**

**WHILE you read this story, I recommend listening to **

**Bleach Full Hanabi Song and Lyrics**** on Youtube.**

**I do not own the song.**

**~Marlode~**

**Searching for Wishes**

**Chapter Three**

**Ichigo's Point of View**

Ichigo and Renji stepped into the classroom, and upon spotting the teacher of their class Ichigo backpedaled and rammed into Renji.

"Ack!" yelped Renji, "What's up with you?"

"Kurosaki Ichigo, please sit in the front of the class." Ordered an icy voice whose owner sent Ichigo a warning glance.

"B- Bya-" Ichigo stuttered.

Byakuya flicked his head towards the class, who had filed into the room and sat down at their desks.

"You will all refer to me as 'Kuchiki Sensei'," he commanded.

Ichigo's surprised look morphed into a scowl as he grudgingly took a seat at the front of the class to the far left, away from Byakuya's desk. Leave it to Byakuya to pop out of nowhere and make his life a living hell. But why was he here— "Renji Abarai, please sit in front of my teacher's desk, at the front of the row."

Oh Crap. He was here for Renji, but to do what with him? To take him back to Soul Society, or to kill him? That seemed to be the resort to everything the Soul Society does, he though grimly. If it doesn't make sense, they bash it till it dies.

**Byakuya's Point of View**

That impudent fool Kurosaki, was he going to attempt to hide Abarai from Seretei? No, that is giving him too much credit; the thought of keeping Renji from the Soul Society probably never crossed his mind. His brain would not be able to think out a plan to hide Abarai from us, he is too simple minded.

My thoughts on what an idiot that orange haired boy was faded as Renji took his seat in front of me. In reality, I wanted to pull him out of his seat, grasp him by his shoulders, and—what did I want to do? Shaking my head, I began walking past the front of the rows, handing out books for the lesson today. When I reached Renji's row, I halted for a moment and said, "Meet me after class." He raised an eyebrow at me, and nodded. And then my mouth slipped, "You do not have any tattoos on your eyebrows?" The class was looking at me in a peculiar manner, as was Abarai.

"Uhm, no sir. But that would be cool I guess?" he said in a slightly confused tone.

Then my words betrayed me again, stating "Do not get them, they would look foolish on you." I proceeded to stiffly walked towards the other desk with the books in hand.

"Okay then," I heard him mutter "just because you asked me…"

I continued to pass out books, wondering if he was being sarcastic or if my opinion actually mattered to him. Not that I cared, besides, he does not even remember me. But it was nice to see him again, and note that he still looks the same, minus the disappearance of the forehead tattoos.

**Renji's Point of View**

Wow, that guy sure is pretty, in a really good way. I bet he has girls throwing themselves at him all the time; I can see the ladies in here swooning right now. He doesn't seem to notice though, and why would he tell me I shouldn't get forehead tattoos? They're cool! But if someone as porcelain and refined looking as that thinks that getting them would be a bad idea, then maybe I should follow his advice.

Wait a sec, why am I thinking of him as 'porcelain and refined'? That's not manly. And I am manly! And masculine, just like Ichigo! Who is very nice looking, I wonder if they think I look good? But Kuchiki is my teacher! And Ichigo is my best friend! And they're both guys… huh. But that girl Rukia, she's beautiful. But of course I need to get to know her more, stupid amnesia.

**Ichigo's Point of View**

Renji is so ogling Byakuya. What the heck? And the sick part was that Byakuya was so ogling him! Byakuya needs to stay away from what isn't his. I mean, Renji's mine.

Hold up Hold up, that sounds so wrong, what I meant is that he's my friend, not Byakuya's, yeah that's totally it! I pushed my head into my hands, what's going on with me?

_After School has Been Let Out_

After all the students left the class, Renji asked "Kuchiki Sensei, what's going on?"

"Well Renji, I just wanted you to know that, if you need anything, I'm here for you." Byakuya paled right after he said that, his voice had betrayed him again! He did not want to sound that sentimental or fluffy!

"Ahh okay?" Renji replied, giving Byakuya the 'What-the-hell-are-you-saying?' look.

Byakuya simply stood in place, still mortified by the fluffiness that had come out of his mouth.

"Well," Renji awkwardly waved to Byakuya as he turned around, "I guess I'll be going then, Bye Kuchiki Sensei."

Byakuya finally snapped out of his stupor and reached out to stop Renji, he had to fix his image! He was proper and serious, not fluffy! Yet as he reached towards Abarai, Byakuya's quick reflexes took a plummet as he happened to slip on a pencil that had been dropped by accident by none other than Ichigo Kurosaki. So as Renji turned around to see why Byakuya had made a strangled sound, he was tackled by the falling Kuchiki and slammed up against the window on the door.

_A Few Minutes Before Byakuya Falls_

Little did the two men inside the classroom know that Chizuru and Ichigo were still waiting outside the door of the room. Ichigo waited because he told himself he wanted to make sure Byakuya would not hurt Renji, or do anything else to him—not that he knew what else that would be. And Chizuru was convinced that Byakuya and Renji were in love with each other, just like when Ichigo tackled Renji to the floor that one time.

"Oh, forbidden love!" she sighed aloud.

"What are you talking about?" questioned Ichigo. Renji and Byakuya didn't have anything going on!

"Oh Ichigo, you used to be in love with Renji, right? Do you feel left out that he has moved to Kuchiki Sensei? Ah what a scandal!" Exclaimed Chizuru.

"THERE IS NO SCANDAL!" Ichigo hissed vehemently.

And then they heard a loud 'thump' against the door.

"See?" squealed Chizuru.

Oh lord, thought Ichigo as his mind blanched when he saw Renji's head smash against the door.

_Back in the Classroom_

Byakuya and Renji were both breathing hard for different reasons; Byakuya because he was trying to regain his composure, and Renji because he'd just been slammed into a door. But to the ears outside, it sounded perfectly wrong. So wrong in fact, that Ichigo became very uncomfortable and chose to swing open the door, causing Renji to fall backwards with Byakuya on top of him, which still looked wrong.

Ichigo lunged down and flipped an indignant Byakuya off of Renji, who shouted in pain when the Kuchiki's foot accidentally racked him as the 'sensei' attempted to get off of the younger male.

"Ichigo, why did you do that?" scolded Chizuru with a frown on her face. "They were—"

"Nobody wants to hear your perverted thoughts!" screamed Ichigo as he hauled the cringing Renji to his feet. Ichigo then encircled his arm around Renji's chest and proceeded to haul him out of the school and to his house, where Rukia awaited the two males impatiently.

_Back to Where Byakuya and Chizuru Are_

Well at least Renji knows it was an accident, but Ichigo and this girl don't, thought Byakuya as he stared at Chizuru. "Go home child," he told her coldly.

She smiles brightly at Byakuya, and promptly says, "You need to embrace your loving side Kuchiki Sensei!"

Byakuya feels himself becoming faint, thinking 'That must have looked really bad."

"I assure you, that there is nothing to 'embrace', and that what you just witnessed was an accident." He retorted.

Chizuru then waggles her eyebrows, saying "I'll see you tomorrow Kuchiki Sensei, hopefully with Renji!" and then she sprinted off.

After the strange girl had left, Byakuya went into the classroom, closed the door, picked up the pencil that he had slipped on, and began to viciously snap the offending rod of wood into pieces.

**Ichigo's Point of View**

Five minutes had passed since I had been dragging Renji to my house, even though his place was right beside mine. And he was telling me to let him go. But I didn't want to, I liked carrying him around, even though he was heavy from all that freaking muscle that gu—irls! Totally adored. Yeah. Girls love that sort of thing. Guys just respect other guys for it. Guys just like me, who look up to guys like Renji, because of all of their muscle, even if I could definitely whoop his ass in a fight.

"Ichigo, PUT ME DOWN!"

Finally, I obliged, and threw him on the ground.

Renji groaned as he sat up from the sidewalk, and at that moment I felt something go wrong. The air wasn't right, the feeling of this area was off. I looked around, was it a Hollow? But this felt different than some ordinary Hollow, and then they appeared right behind me.

I'm pretty bad at sensing reiatsu, but even I could tell that these things were big daddies. With Renji here, I was more liable to get hurt protecting him, or not fast enough to be able to shield him from the Hollows. And I would also need to transform in front of Renji; but he was bound to find out anyway, and by the shocked look in his eyes, I could tell he could see the monsters behind me.

"I- Ichigo!" he pointed.

I popped a pill into my mouth, and a Sub Soul took over my body. Renji looked baffled as he saw two of me, and I said "Don't worry Renji, I'll protect you." And with a smirk I flew at the creature, yelling

"GETSUGA TENSHOU!"

**Once again, please review kindly, tell me what you think, and thanks for reading! :) **

**~Marlode~ **


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello, hello! I do not own Bleach!**

**Please review with kindness :) **

**LISTEN TO THIS SONG while reading! It will enhance it! Seriously!**

**Greatest Battle Music Of All Times: Fairy Tail Main Theme**** on YouTube. **

**I do not own the song. **

**~Marlode~**

**Searching for Wishes**

**Chapter Four**

The sun had set, and blue light flashed through the night sky. Metal clashed with claw, and green flesh was ripped from the bone. The black tar of Hollows spiraled through the air, and splashed onto the dark grass. Shadows danced down to the trees and street, and voices filled the air.

Cries of triumph and guttural sounds of animalistic pain were sewn into the melodic sound of deathly battle. The sky turned its eye to two magnificent young men with hair the color of flame; orange, the bronze strength of hope, and red, the untamed wildness of the fight.

As Ichigo fought his way through the moonlit haze of monsters, he failed to notice one of the beasts crouching to lunge behind him. But the action did not go unnoticed by Renji, who gritted his teeth, ran forward into the fray, dodging gigantic fists and tusks until he leapt into the air to take a-hold of the Hollow encroaching upon Ichigo. He grabbed onto the thing's neck, and although terrified at first, he began to smile widely, and yelled out "WHOOOOHOOO!"

"Renji!" cried Ichigo. He quickly killed the Hollow he was fighting, and when he reached out to grab Renji, the instant Ichigo came into contact with Abarai's skin, there was a spark of power which acted as a trigger, and Renji's body began to glow crimson.

The surge of reiatsu surprised both Ichigo and Renji, and while Ichigo was thrown backwards, Renji stayed still, and looked down at himself. When the light faded, Renji's grin became even more pronounced, and his canines were defined in the shadows of his face when he smiled.

"You don't have to worry about me Ichigo," he said calmly, still grinning.

And with that, Renji smashed his fist into the mask of the Hollow beside him, and the creature promptly disintegrated. Abarai's whole body had become a weapon, and Ichigo watched in awe as Renji slammed his muscled frame, legs, arms, hands, and his head into the opposing enemy.

Renji somersaulted into the air and began to crush the Hollows, his red hair and ruby eyes flashing with the light of the stars, and his frame shining gold and burning red with the beams of the moon.

"That, is the Renji I know." Stated the grinning Ichigo.

So the two flames lit the sky, crimson and gold power trailing through the clouds as rain began to come down. The roar of thunder clashed with the mighty roars of two powerful men, and it was quite a sight to behold. A picture of a battle being painted across the earth, the air, and the soul—a watercolor canvas where rain cheered in the background, becoming part of the brawl.

"Ichigo!"

"Yeah, Renji?"

"THIS IS EPIC!"

There they fought, rolling with the punches and having a great time putting their lives on the line, all the while yelling out, "WOOHOO!"

**PLEASE IT WILL ENHANCE THE READING EXPERIENCE! Change the song to ****Top Emotional Osts Of All Times: Kiss The Rain**** on YouTube (I do not own that either)**

After the fight was over, Ichigo looked to Renji and chuckled out,

"Wow, I had no idea you could do that."

Renji laughed as well, "Yeah, me neither!"

"Renji, I want to tell you something." Ichigo said, suddenly sobering up from the previous excitement.

Renji's eyebrows furrowed as he looked to Ichigo, "What is it man? Something wrong?"

"Renji, I know you probably don't remember all that we've been through… But I do. I, Renji, I've been thinking about this, and Renji, I wanted to say, I lo—"

"No, Ichigo. You don't."

Ichigo glanced up, surprise and pain written on his features, which mutated into irritation as well. "How do you know Renji? You're not in my head! Instead of telling me what I feel, why don't you say how YOU feel!" Ichigo choked out.

"Ichigo, I think I love you too. But, I just have this feeling that that's not how it's supposed to be!" he desperately exclaimed. "Just, trust me, I may not remember anything, and I may not know what's going on with all these monsters, but I just know Ichigo." Renji looked into Ichigo's chocolate brown eyes, "I just know."

And somewhere in his heart, Ichigo knew that Renji was right. They could have something wonderful, but there was something even better waiting for them, they just had to find the right path to take.

'It could be good,' Ichigo thought, 'But I think that somewhere out there, there could be something great; for both of us, with someone else.'

Once his emotions caught up with him, Ichigo felt his eyes become slightly wet around the edges, 'After all, it's finally come down to this; but I guess it's for the better.'

Then, in an unexpected flash of movement, Renji took the smaller male into his arms, and they stood in the rain as water dripped into their eyes, and Abarai shielded Ichigo's head with his own from the bright flash of lightning and thunder. They both held each other in an intimate way that would not occur again. They stood as two warm lights in an empty street, they stood as two suns underneath the moon, and they stood as two pillars to hold one another up.

Their weakness of not being able to stand by themselves faded, and they both stood apart.

Ichigo smiled softly, "You know what Renji, maybe it's like that thing where best friends think they like each other, but they end up realizing that they're just like family?"

Renji closed his eyes and turned his head up to the rain, and a grin formed on his face. "Exactly Ichigo, that's exactly it."

Abarai lowered his head and opened his eyes as he bent his knees and slid his way to lying down on the grass in the park beside the sidewalk while folding his arms behind his head.

"Baka Renji, what are you doing? You could get hit by lightning."

Renji sighed, "Ha, whatever Ichigo, if it tries to, I'll dodge it."

Ichigo looked at Renji, and decided to join him. So he crouched down and plopped onto his back as well, and they watched the light flash and dance across the sky, and the slightly warm rain ran down their faces and cleansed their hearts.

In the simplicity of it all, the two young men fell asleep side by side, just like brothers waiting for the morning to rise.

**Well I hope you liked it! I would still like to hear about pairing suggestions :D**

**Please (nicely) tell me what you thought, review! :)**

**~Marlode~**


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